Bill banning abortions after 20 weeks heats up session

The Texas Legislature has been unusually quiet the first three months of the session, but that appears to be changing.

State Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, speaks in opposition to a bill in the Texas House of Representatives(AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)

Lawmakers, doctors and advocates verbally tangled Wednesday evening in a House State Affairs Committee hearing while considering HB 2364, which aims to ban abortions in the state after 20 weeks of pregnancy unless the mother’s life is in imminent danger. The current threshold in Texas is after 27 weeks.

State Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker, who authored the so-called “fetal pain bill”, said it protects “unborn children” and “helps that woman (with an unknown pregnancy), help herself.” She said her bill is based on evolving medical science that indicates fetuses can develop incomplete nervous systems before the third trimester.

“The knowledge and technology are advancing in such a way that is changing the way we look at abortion,” Laubenberg said.

“Let’s say I was in college, and used your medical studies on a paper,” Farrar said. “Would I get an F?”

The Houston Democrat cited to a study on fetal pain published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found “evidence regarding the capacity for fetal pain is limited but indicates that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester.”

“I don’t purport to be a medical professional but I do research and I do listen,” said Farrar.

The debate between the two legislators lasted about 25 minutes and each attempted talking over the other in a few instances. Testimony on the bill neared three hours and featured dozens of witnesses, although not all testified. If the committee, comprised of seven Republicans and three Democrats, approves the proposal, it will will be considered by the full House.

Nearly 87 percent of Texas resident abortions were performed before 11 weeks in 2010, according to statistics from the Texas Department of State Health Services. Only 1.4 percent were performed after 16 weeks, and only 0.5 percent were after 20 weeks.

“For me, one (abortion) is as much as 1,000,” Laubenberg said.

Heather Busby, executive director of NARAL Pro-choice, called the proposed restriction an unneccesary government intrusion of a doctor-patient relationship.

At least three doctors spoke in support of the ban, but Farrar questioned their interests in the bill.

Dr. Paul Liu, an anesthesiologist in Arizona, said he has not performed a fetal surgery but that his experience indicates fetuses react to pain before the 29-week mark cited by the JAMA study.

Liu, responding to a question from Farrar, said he was asked to testify by state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton.

Dr. Patrick Donnelly, an OBGYN in Austin who testified in support of the bill, was asked about his personal views on abortion by Farrar. He said he was opposed. Both doctors agreed the JAMA article could be debated.

A provision in the bill would create a penalty of license revocation for doctors who perform abortions past the 20-week mark. Ten other states have adopted similar restrictions, but the majority of them are being challenged in court, including in Georgia, Arizona and North Dakota, who recently passed a ban on abortions as early as six weeks after pregnancy – the toughest restriction in the country.

Farrar said recent legislation limiting abortion time periods is a collective push by the conservative Republican party to force the Supreme Court to reconsider abortion’s constitutionality.